


Teach Me

by Raphiael



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 18:36:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5836396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raphiael/pseuds/Raphiael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone can tell Ephraim hasn't been himself since the army arrived in Rausten. Innes decides to do something about it. <br/>Nagamas gift for Atan, aka trololous on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teach Me

**Author's Note:**

> (This totally counts as hurt/comfort, if you consider "fight me bro" a form of comfort.)

"Teach me."

For a moment, Ephraim could only stare at Innes in response to his request. It was hardly a time for frivolity, with their stop in Rausten surrounded by so many grim circumstances. Even L'Arachel had seemed subdued. Practices like these were among the only times Ephraim had left to let loose at all, and Innes would know that. He'd know better than to interrupt for a jest, not now, not after everything.

But there was nothing mocking or playful in Innes' voice, not even a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. He held a practice spear tight at his side; a little too tight, Ephraim noticed immediately, to be fluid in motion.

"But you already know how to fight," he answered. "You're as effective with a spear as I am with a bow — isn't that good enough? It's not like either of us are going to end up switching, right?"

Ephraim could hit a target easily in practice, though Innes was always quicker and more precise. Every motion made Ephraim feel clumsy, even slow in comparison. He'd hardly be good enough to wield one in battle, so surely Innes would feel the same with even the lightest lance. Once, he knew, an instructive spar or two might have been fun, but it felt now like not only a mockery, but a frivolous waste of time. Time was hardly plentiful.

But Innes did not relent. He was always headstrong, but Ephraim had thought logic and practicality would have won him over. Not so.

"I don't need to be as good with a spear as I am with a bow," he answered sharply, obviously quite aware of just how good with a bow he was. "But I'm not a fool, either. I've seen what those... creatures can do up close, and if that's what we're facing from now on —"

It was true enough. Keeping them at a distance was more difficult than any other enemy Ephraim had encountered. Revenants and their ilk had none of the human sense of self-preservation. He'd seen them carry on where any normal soldier would have fled, carrying injuries that would surpass any idea of honor or courage. Just thinking of how long they could go, and to what lengths they would continue in order to feed whatever destructive instincts fueled them.... Ephraim held back a shudder.

"...Fine. I know you know the basics."

"Don't patronize me."

Ephraim thought he noted a bit of jest, then, but with Innes' cool demeanor and steeled eyes, it was hard to tell whether or not he was imagining it. He tried to stop thinking so much about it, instead raising his weapon.

It felt like ages since his last pure spar. Even his daily exercises had long since become rigid and tense. Where once he'd striven to move faster just to prove he could, now every improvement came with a looming sense of dread. Faster, so you strike before they strike you. Or worse, someone else.

He still surprised even himself when he met Innes' first move with a disproportionately powerful parry, knocking the other man easily off his feet. He hadn't meant to be that harsh, and yet his instincts were impossible to restrain.

"Sorry — "

"I _said_ , don't patronize me," Innes wheezed in response. He ignored the hand Ephraim offered to help him up, even though his first stumble back to his feet had little of his usual refinement and poise. "Just... show me what I'm doing wrong, before one of those creatures does."

Ephraim had never been good with words, but he could demonstrate well enough. He showed Innes how to balance his weight between both feet, so that a misstep wouldn't knock him off his feet. He couldn't explain how to grip the spear properly, so he reached over instead and moved Innes' hands to a more fluid position, not tight and clenched as they'd been before. He was surprised by the lack of resistance. He'd almost expected Innes still to speak up and protest, but nothing came but a quick nod before the other prince stepped back, ready to try again.

"Let's go," Innes said.

From that moment on, neither of them spoke much at all. Ephraim dominated the first few bouts, but Innes quickly caught on to the pattern of movements Ephraim tended to follow. He managed to parry more blows than he took, and get up quicker when he fell, refusing Ephraim's hand up every time it was offered. But eventually, he seemed to develop his own strengths, amateur though they might be. He waited for openings and ducked under high swings, lunging in to take Ephraim by surprise. He still managed to keep his footing, refusing to compromise his own abilities to assuage Innes' ego. Besides, that would defeat the point. It wasn't like anything out there would go easy on any of them, no matter the circumstances.

By the time the last rays of sunlight faded from the practice field, Ephraim had lost count of how many matches he'd won. He did know precisely how many times Innes had, though, and he had to admit, it was more than he'd expected. They'd often been evenly matched in jousting and fencing, but this was his own specialty, and —

He was half lost in thought when Innes finally hit hard enough to knock him off his feet. For a moment, he stayed on the ground, dazed and distracted. But when Innes offered him a hand, he took it despite the pattern set.

"I didn't see that coming," Ephraim said. Although his breath was short and his body ached, he managed a sheepish smile. To his surprise, Innes grinned in response, a bit different than the cocky smirk to which he was accustomed.

"Feeling any better?"

The question was more a surprise than the blow had been. Ephraim tried to understand, but couldn't quite piece it together.

"What do you mean?"

Innes didn't look up from the stretches he'd started or pause his motions as he spoke. "It's obvious, isn't it? Everyone's noticed you've been restless since we came back from Mount Neleras. Frankly, you haven't been yourself."

"Haven't I been?" Ephraim asked, too quickly, not even bothering to try to keep up with the stretches. Had it all been so obvious? He'd thought he'd kept enough quiet, but clearly —

"No," Innes cut in. "You're moody and sullen and hardly come out of your rooms, and when you do, Tana says —"

"Tana told you?"

"She told me you've gotten it into your head that you're somehow the only one watching your back. That you think the lot of us are going to, I don't know, come smother you or Eirika in your sleep or something."

"That's not how I think!"

"But it _is_." There was no smile left on Innes' face now. "At least Eirika's honest about being afraid. And when even _she's_ not getting through to you, it's fairly obvious something's wrong."

That much, Ephraim supposed, was fair. He still hadn't told Eirika everything, save the most important details. He wasn't inclined to tell Innes instead, but if it was really this obvious, then even he knew something had to give.

"I'm not going to ask what happened," Innes cut in before Ephraim could speak again. "It doesn't much matter now. All I know is that you hiding away and acting all aloof is setting _everyone_ on edge."

"Yourself included?" Innes bristled visibly at that. Only then did Ephraim smile again: still tired, a little dishonest, but more than the grimace he'd felt himself adopting so often of late. "I'll leave the aloofness to you, then, Innes." _Or try, at least._

"You _know_ that's not what I meant."

Ephraim clapped Innes' shoulder to cut the retort short. "I know. You have my thanks."

Innes seemed to study him for a moment, almost as if suspicious of the gesture. Somehow, that pushed Ephraim to smile a bit more, even laugh a bit, though when he did he realized how sore his ribs were.

"Let's go back inside," he offered. "I think I've taught you all I can today."

"I did best you that last bout, though. And I'll do it again, I'm sure —"

"You won't," Ephraim answered, grinning despite himself. "I'll promise you that."


End file.
